Louis Bentley Is G&M Cricket World Player Of The Month

2 September 2012

Louis Bentley Is G&M Cricket World Player Of The Month

Louis Bentley hits out, showing the sort of form that earned him the award

©Louis Bentley

Nantwich’s young Lancashire Second XI batsman Louis Bentley has been announced as this month’s Gunn & Moore Cricket World batting performer of the month. Across four matches for his club, the 22 year-old hit 313 runs at an average of 156.5, including two unbeaten centuries.
He began with an innings of 134 not out off 125 balls against Chester Boughton Hall and followed that up with an unbeaten 110 off only 76 balls in his side’s victory over Neston the proceeding weekend. His last innings in August was a 41-ball 50 which took Nantwich to the brink of victory against Macclesfield. Nantwich are currently top of the Cheshire County Premier League and are aiming for a hat-trick of titles following their 2010 and 2011 triumphs.
Bentley, a left-handed top-order batsman, only joined Nantwich at the start of the 2012 season after leaving Oulton Park, who were relegated from the Cheshire County Premier League in 2011. His first-team debut for Oulton had come in 2008, but he struggled to make a century in his first three seasons there, before exploding to prominence last season. He ended 2011 with almost 1000 runs at an average of nearly 50 and clearly felt that dropping down to play Division One cricket with Oulton the following year would have hampered his development.
Bentley had come through the Cheshire age-group set-up; playing for their Under-15, Under-17 and Development sides before moving onto second team cricket with Lancashire CCC in 2010. On his Second XI Championship debut against Nottinghamshire in May 2010, he showed glimpses of promise, hitting 41 and 39 and finished the season with an average of 36 from five matches. In 2011, he matched his excellent form for Oulton Park by hitting more than 700 runs in nine matches, while this season he averages 30.71 from seven matches. Overall his league record for Nantwich in 2012 stands at 590 runs at an average of 53.64 from 14 games.
Other contenders for this month’s award, which cannot be awarded to current or former professional cricketers, included Hyde batsman Danny Berry and Eastbourne’s Mark Tomsett, who both also topped 300 runs for the month – a feat also achieved by last month’s winner Duncan Snell, albeit from six rather than four matches. Richard Waite (Stockton); Lutterworth’s former Leicestershire Second XI batsman Oliver Pickering; Southport & Birkdale’s young South Australian Mitchell Quinn; Wayne Morgan (Bromley); Oliver Mills (Ventnor); and Dave Hammond (Brentwood) all managed more than 250 runs and were also considered for the award.
NOTES
The GM Cricket World ECB Premier League batting performance awards
CricketWorld.com and the world renowned cricket manufacturer Gunn & Moore have teamed up to provide a monthly award for the leading batsman in the ECB Premier League.
The winner each month will receive a Gunn and Moore Original LE bat of their choice (see GM™'s unique Bat Selector) and all winners will get an invitation to visit the famous Gunn & Moore factory in Nottingham after the season.
The winner will be chosen each month by the Editorial panel and their decision will be based on either an individual performance or a succession of individual performances during that month. The Editorial panel is aware that there are a number of ex-professional and current pro-cricketers in the ECB Premier Leagues and their decisions on the winners are weighted towards the 'non-professional' club cricketers' performances and their decisions are final.
For the last 3 years, CricketWorld.com has published online, weekly results and performances of all ECB Premier Leagues, in the UK, throughout the season and also compile their unique Club Cricket MVP (Most Valuable Player) ratings as well.
© Cricket World 2012

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